Barbara Sleigh (1906–1982)

A quiet, sweet, gently whimsical fantasy that feels a bit older than it is - it has a very pre-World War II tone despite being from 1955. (This sort of book would basically disappear by 1965.) The child characters are all very polite, and they have the run of both the outdoors and the local town - adults are never as intimidating or threatening as the children might initially expect. Some modern readers would dismiss it all as quite naive or boring, but it's actually quite relaxing: very show more much a kind of proto-Kiki's Delivery Service. This would be a good book for a shy little girl who loves cats, or for her mother to read aloud to her. show less

A children's book from the era of my own childhood (I remember reading the sequel, The Kingdom of Carbonel, borrowed from the library). This one came from a charity shop and I scooped it up gladly as an old friend.
Carbonel is a witch's cat. A little girl called Rosemary decides to help her widowed mother by getting a cleaning job, and buys a tatty broom from a dodgy old woman in the market. The cat is thrown in free; the old lady is a witch, trying to reform. But there's a spell on Carbonel, show more and Rosemary must find the cauldron and witch's hat to break it, so that Carbonel can come into his own kingdom again.
A delightful tale, told with the same kind of zest and enjoyment in magic as Harry Potter. show less

Long before Harry Potter, the Carbonel series captured that same British magical whimsy. Carbonel and its sequel were among my favorite books at the library when I was about 9-12. Imagine my delight when this book, originally published in 1955, was re-released... followed by two sequels! I didn't even know it was a trilogy. I completed my set, and now I'm reading through them from the beginning.

Young Rosemary plans on cleaning houses to make her summer break pass by. However, when she buys a show more ratty broom from an odd old lady at the market, a black cat is thrown into the bargain. But this cat is no ordinary cat: he is Carbonel, a kidnapped Prince of Royal Blood. He has spent his entire life as the witch's minion. Rosemary's purchase broke part of the curse, but there is still a spell of Silent Magic that holds him in bondage. To make things worse, his now-dead father's kingdom is in disarray with cruel usurping alley cats in charge, and Carbonel cannot take his rightful throne as a human's minion. Rosemary and her new friend John set out to solve the mystery and set the cat free by hunting out the artifacts used in the original spell.

This book is just as magical as when I first read in twenty years ago. I look forward to reading this with my own son in the coming years. show less

This is the second volume in the middle grade-level Carbonel series. I last read it was a library copy about 15 years ago.

A year after setting Carbonel free from a witch's spell, teenagers Rosemary and John reunite to spend the summer together. To their delight, King Carbonel returns. After going to a pharmacist for a special prescription, the two drink an elixir and can hear Carbonel again--and all the other animals and insects around. Carbonel has a special request. He must leave for a show more meeting of kings, and he's concerned about the well-being of his two young kittens. Rosemary and John agree to tend them, but soon enough trouble merges. Carbonel's old witch is up to mischief again, this time plotting with the ambitious cat-queen of a neighboring city. The two children must do everything they can to save the kittens and keep Cat Country from falling into outright war.

This book is as charming as I remembered. It's so delightfully British, full of eccentric characters with magic revealing itself in unexpected ways. I'm so grateful that these books were finally reprinted! Mind you, it does feel dated in some ways (this second book was published in 1960) but that's all part of its charm. show less